For the third time in its last four tournament appearances, Auburn was eliminated in the second round. The Tigers took a 10-point lead into halftime, but their offense faltered in the second half as they lost 81-64 to top-seeded Houston in Birmingham, Alabama.
“We're interested in making history,” said head coach Bruce Pearl. “And this team had a good year. And they made the NCAA Tournament. And they advanced in the NCAA Tournament. And added to the history of Auburn basketball by not losing a First Round game. And gave the 1 seed a pretty good run for 20 minutes.”
In the first half, the Tigers’ offense started strong. Led by 11 points from Jaylin Williams in the first 20 minutes, Auburn scored 41 points against the nation’s No. 4 scoring defense. The Tigers made five 3-pointers and shot 55.2% from the field in the opening frame. Tre Donaldson made two 3-pointers in the half, finishing 5-for-5 from behind the arc in the tournament.
“I wish it was a 20-minute game instead of a 40-minute game,” Pearl said. “We were ready to play. The kids were ready to play.”
Despite the success from the field in the first 20 minutes, the Tigers struggled at the foul line, making just four of its 10 free throws.
The second half saw a monumental offensive collapse by the Tigers. Auburn made just four baskets from the field after halftime, shooting just 16.7% from the field in the second period, including a drought of over 10 minutes without a basket in the half. No Tigers scored more than six points in the frame.
As the shooting from the field faltered, the free-throw shooting woes continued to plague the Tigers. The Tigers drew 25 fouls on Houston in the game, earning 36 free-throw attempts. The Tigers made just 19 of those attempts. In the second half alone, Auburn shot just 15-of-26 on foul shots, attributing to its swift collapse.
The Tigers were outscored 50-23 in the second half, a 27-point difference after halftime.
The foul-shot struggles were led by Johni Broome, who shot just 6-of-16 from the free-throw line. The rest of the team did not fare much better, going 13-of-20. The 19-of-36 mark at which the Tigers shot free throws was a rate of 52.8%.
Meanwhile, Houston was 24-of-29 at the foul line, including an 18-for-18 mark in the second half. With the Cougars capitalizing on their foul shots and Auburn failing to do so, Houston led for the final 9:32 of the game.
“They were 18/18 from the foul line,” Pearl said. “In the second half, they did everything they needed to do offensively. We couldn't guard them. The guys could look at this or that. They scored 50 points in the second half. That's why they won.”
The Tigers found it difficult to guard Houston’s Marcus Sasser and Tremon Mark, who combined for 48 points — over half of Houston’s scoring output.
“Sasser was the best player on the floor,” Pearl said. “He's a great player. And he rose up and made big shots. Mark was able to take our smaller guards and just back them down and score over them.”
Despite his free-throw issues, Broome was tied for the Auburn lead with 14 points, along with Williams. Allen Flanigan came a rebound shy of a double-double in a 10-point, nine-rebound effort.
Not only was shooting a problem for Auburn, but rebounding was as well. The Tigers were outrebounded 45-34, giving up 17 offensive rebounds. Houston scored 19 second-chance points off of offensive boards.
“Second half we missed box outs,” Flanigan said. “They got offensive rebounds, second-chance points, and they lined us up and drove us and got some mid-range shots. They were able to knock down their mid-range shots.”
The 2022-23 Auburn men’s basketball season has come to an end with a record of 21-13.
“This team's been resilient. It's played the toughest schedule that I've ever played,” Pearl said. “Seventeen games against the (NCAA Tournament) field. And just kept bouncing back all year long, after tough losses. So you have to admire them. And give them that credit.”
The 2023-24 season is set to begin in November. Now that this season is over, Pearl will look toward the future of his program.
“I'll be shifting gears now helping, you know, the guys that are going to want to take a look at maybe where their draft status could be, we'll look at that,” Pearl said. “And within the next week or two get a look at what our roster looks like. If we lose anybody in the transfer portal and begin to rebuild it.”
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
